Capital City: Olympia
Admission to Statehood: November 11, 1889
Bird: Willow Goldfinch
Flower: Pink Rhododendron
Motto: Alki
Bye and Bye
Nickname: The Evergreen State
Song: Washington, My Home
Tree: Western Hemlock
Insect: Green Darner Dragonfly.

Washington is the only state to be named after a U. S. president.

Seattle is home to the first revolving restaurant, 1961.

Washington state's capitol building was the last state capitol building to be built with a rotunda.

King county the largest county in Washington was originally named after William R. King, Vice President under Franklin Pierce; it was renamed in 1986, after civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Before it became a state, the territory was called Columbia (named after the Columbia River). When it was granted statehood, the name was changed to Washington, supposedly so people wouldn't confuse it with The District of Columbia.

The highest point in Washington is Mount Rainier. It was named after Peter Rainier, a British soldier who fought against the Americans in the Revolutionary War.

The world's first soft-serve ice cream machine was located in an Olympia Dairy Queen.